MSU grads launch low-cost Money Pickle financial advice app

Three Michigan State graduates have come together to create the  Money Pickle app. 

This app assists individuals who need affordable financial advice. “Last year I worked for a financial advisory firm and noticed that the majority of clients were older couples, and mostly upper-class individuals. This got me thinking about my friends and other recent college graduates who can’t necessarily afford a financial adviser. I asked myself,  how can we serve this severely underserved group of people?” CEO and Co-founder Brenton Thurman said. 

With their background of finance, business, economics, entrepreneurship and innovation from their time at MSU, the three decided to brainstorm a way to close this gap. 

“When we were still at Michigan State, we would talk about eventually starting our own business, and running a company together from the ground up,” said co-founder Nick Young. “The Money Pickle idea sparked, and we have been running with it ever since.”

For $1.50 a minute, users can chat with financial professionals, or “Pickle Pros.” These professionals are available to advise with no future relationship required, and the choice to remain anonymous. 

“We have about a dozen Pickle Pros right now who are all experienced financial advisers, and are the ones taking calls on the app,” said co-founder Colin Hendrickson said.

Two college students, each with a box of paczki

Wacky paçzki flavors and demand hype Fat Tuesday sales

East Lansing bakeries look forward each year to the sales that to paczki day brings.

Paczki can be found at stores including Quality Dairy, Groovy Donuts and Strange Matter Coffee. They can also be found at larger chains such as Meijer and Kroger. 

Quality Dairy offers 14 flavors including two newer ones, death by chocolate and key lime pie. Quality Dairy put on a Facebook contest last year where customers could submit ideas for new paczki flavors. 

East Lansing: Home to several pizza hotspots

Georgio’s Cook Michael Alayyoubi with various pizza combinations. East Lansing is home to various restaurants that are fan favorites, including several pizza parlors. City residents have different opinions about which is best. Domino’s

MSU junior Clara Pater said, “Domino’s  is hands-down my favorite pizza place in the area. I think that the crust is the best and it’s good every single time.

Snow-covered sidewalk with not a person around.

Snow throws wet blanket on East Lansing businesses

Grand River Avenue was quiet and piled with snow at 4 p.m. Wednesday. Power outages occurred near Grand River Avenue on Tuesday afternoon leading into the night when snow arrived. Despite this, most East Lansing businesses were open Wednesday and doing their best with the heavy snow.